How to install the AMD X2 drivers, hotfix, the correct way.

[GAR]

Here is how to get your dual core AMD system running like it should with no hitches and stibility issues..............since the new AMD DUAL CORE OPTIMIZER came out people say you dont need the MS HOTFIX anymore, i dont know if this is true or not, but i tested these fixes with and without one another, and found they work better together, giving an increase in performance.....but thats from my personal expierience......try for yourself, i recomend installing both the MS HOTFIX and the AMD DUAL CORE OPTIMIZER, as they work good together and also give a performance increase by about 1-5%.

PLEASE BACKUP YOUR REGISTRY FIRST!!


1 - Install the amd drivers, download it from here... http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html

2 - read this website and download the hotfix....READ here http://support.microsoft.com/?id=896256 ........Download here http://www.amdzone.com/files/WinXPdualcorehotfix.exe

3 - Edit your registry to enable the HOTFIX, follow these steps.
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Right-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager, point to New, and then click Key.
3. Type Throttle for the new key name.
4. Right-click Throttle, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type PerfEnablePackageIdle for the value name.
6. Right-click PerfEnablePackageIdle, and then click Modify.
7. In the Edit DWORD Value box, type 1. In the Value data box, make sure that Hexadecimal is selected, and then click OK.
8. Quit Registry Editor.

4 - Make sure your BOOT.ini has this command in it, /usepmtimer to check, right click on My Computer go to properties, click on the ADVANCE tab, then under startup and recovery click on settings, then click on EDIT....

5 - Install the NEW AMD Dual Core Optimizer.......from here.....http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html

Your Boot.ini should look something like this now..............

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer

Finally your done, if anyone has any questions feel free to PM me.

Ok, here is a simple way to reverse the drivers...........

1 - Uninstall the Hotfix, go into ad/remove programs, click on show updates and remove update numbered KB896256

2 - Reverse the registry entry.

3 - Uninstall the AMD drivers.

4 - Uninstall the AMD Dual Core Optimizer.

5 - Done.

[B5I8]

Is this only for people who use the Cool N Quiet feature?

[AcUaViVa]

i think the same .. ony for C&Q users?

[harpyboy]

he did say "it's not true" ... that it is only for C&Q... but from my own experience I do not have any problems not installing this hotfix when i'm not using C&Q....

so OP what is exactly the good thing about this hotfix if you don't use C&Q ?????

[the]

what about for us opteron users? if we dont notice a performance lag, should we consider this? cuz like, all my stuff runs great so far.

[skogkatt]

Same question here : only for C&Q users?


what about for us opteron users? if we dont notice a performance lag, should we consider this? cuz like, all my stuff runs great so far.

You know the rule : If it works, don't fix it!

Nice sig BTW. I used to play Karateka a lot on my Apple IIe :)

[GAR]

No its not only for CnQ users, windows xp sp2 has issues, we all know, and if your dont have these drivers and the hotfix installed, you might get speed ups and slow downs after hours of gaming, like i did, and following these steps makes sure you never have to deal with it again, and after doing all these steps my gameplay was alot smoother than before, if your not having any issues i guess you dont need to do it, but i recommend anyone with a dual core cpu to follow these instructions to ensure best stability and performance, weather its a AMD X2 or a OPTERAN Dual Core.

[Haltech]

I think this should be stickied. Good job :toast:

[GAR]

Thanks!!.....i hope it is :D

[nfm]

Thanks,

I attached .reg entry, inside of zipped archive. Extract it and double click it, and click "Yes" to add it to registry :p:

[GAR]

Thanks,

I attached .reg entry, inside of zipped archive. Extract it and double click it, and click "Yes" to add it to registry :p:

thanks that'l make it easier for people.

[flashnc]

I agree......this should be a "sticky".

Gar...i saw this over at guru. and thought it was some really good information to have.

been considering going to that same cpu x2 4400+ as you have...its good to see it will run 2.64...im hoping for 2.7..... for some reason that is my shoot for oc ...of course stable 2.8 is always good too.....but from what i have read ,it would seem that the x2 4400 is always good for that mid 2.6 area as an Avg.

printing this out inna few just to add to the list of "good info stickies" i have started saving.....

Flash

[GAR]

I agree......this should be a "sticky".

Gar...i saw this over at guru. and thought it was some really good information to have.

been considering going to that same cpu x2 4400+ as you have...its good to see it will run 2.64...im hoping for 2.7..... for some reason that is my shoot for oc ...of course stable 2.8 is always good too.....but from what i have read ,it would seem that the x2 4400 is always good for that mid 2.6 area as an Avg.

printing this out inna few just to add to the list of "good info stickies" i have started saving.....

Flash

Thanks alot!!.....yeah i posted it at Guru3d.com as well to help the fellas over there as well.

[One_Hertz]

wow fixed A LOT OF SH1T. None of my steam games would work properly before and I've spent about a month trying to figure out WTF is wrong. Thanks a million, now I can get back to my cs addiction.

[Repoman]

Cool, if I remember right (7800 has been away for so long I forget what playing games is like :rolleyes: ) my BF2 would always stutter with my X2.. I have a 165 now but I'll see what happens and if your fix works when my card comes back on wednesday

[GAR]

wow fixed A LOT OF SH1T. None of my steam games would work properly before and I've spent about a month trying to figure out WTF is wrong. Thanks a million, now I can get back to my cs addiction.

Glad to see its helping a few people :toast:

[buckshot]

I cant wait to try this out GAR! I've been having this slow down problem in CS. I have tried a few things but not this. I hope this will fix my prblem. Thanks for the post!

[GAR]

I cant wait to try this out GAR! I've been having this slow down problem in CS. I have tried a few things but not this. I hope this will fix my prblem. Thanks for the post!

no problem................one thing guys i forgot, in the MS site it says to put 0 so go ahead and put 0 after you apply the MS hotfix, sorry about that fellas.

[aiya_au]

hey GAR, what drivers from the AMD site did you specifically use? i dont want to install useless drivers onto my computer.

great guide by the way :toast:

[GAR]

hey GAR, what drivers from the AMD site did you specifically use? i dont want to install useless drivers onto my computer.

great guide by the way :toast:

Thanks....just to let you know this guide is for DUAL CORE cpu's only, AMD X2's Dual Core OPTERAN's.....for your device it would be the regular amd64 drivers on their website, enless you have a dual core cpu, make sure you download the AMD X2 drivers.

[Ub3r-L33ch]

:Chant: Sticky Sticky Sticky Sticky Sticky Sticky :End Chant:

[aiya_au]

Thanks....just to let you know this guide is for DUAL CORE cpu's only, AMD X2's Dual Core OPTERAN's.....for your device it would be the regular amd64 drivers on their website, enless you have a dual core cpu, make sure you download the AMD X2 drivers.

i'll be getting a 4400+ next week. so is this the driver i need from the AMD site? "AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Driver for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Version (exe) 1.2.2.2"

[buckshot]

Gar, Thanks a bunch. :toast: This worked for me. CS was smooth like butter the whole 3 hours I was playing last night. :banana: :banana: Prior to this, CS would get progressively choppier the longer I played. I recommend anybody with Gaming problems to try this. :fact:

[GAR]

Gar, Thanks a bunch. :toast: This worked for me. CS was smooth like butter the whole 3 hours I was playing last night. :banana: :banana: Prior to this, CS would get progressively choppier the longer I played. I recommend anybody with Gaming problems to try this. :fact:

Sweet!!!!!!! :toast:

[simonk]

WARNING

I tried it and it killed my XP install, continous reboot before the windows boot screen. Had to Ghost back. AMD driver install went okay, the MS hotfix killed it (why am I not surprised!)

Just to be clear do you set the DWORD value at 1 or 0, and would this make a difference to my result?

System is not overclocked, I do have a lot of services turned off though.

[GAR]

WARNING

I tried it and it killed my XP install, continous reboot before the windows boot screen. Had to Ghost back. AMD driver install went okay, the MS hotfix killed it (why am I not surprised!)

Just to be clear do you set the DWORD value at 1 or 0, and would this make a difference to my result?

System is not overclocked, I do have a lot of services turned off though.

something must be wrong with your system, and the registry is value is suppost to be 1 .......thats the first time ive heard of sucha thing.....wierd

[simonk]

I will try a fresh install of XP SP2 on a test partition and report

[GAR]

Read this article at AMD ZONE, it says to put 1 in the registry.............. http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3964

[tatts]

is this just for people with SP2? i dont use SP2 and im running 2.7ghz 1.5V and ive not had any slowdowns etc. :confused:

[GAR]

is this just for people with SP2? i dont use SP2 and im running 2.7ghz 1.5V and ive not had any slowdowns etc. :confused:

i think so, but read the MS article to be sure.

[Ic3man]

something must be wrong with your system, and the registry is value is suppost to be 0 .......thats the first time ive heard of sucha thing.....wierd

The registry value is supposed to be 1 (enable).

[GAR]

The registry value is supposed to be 1 (enable).

your right put 1 to enable the hotfix, MS's soft is confusing alot of people by saying put 0, and on the bottom it says put 1 to enable it, it doesnt give any straight forward directions.

[tatts]

i just read all the stuff on microsoft and it seems you only need to install it if youre using SP2 & want to use CnQ

[GAR]

Yeah but the hotfix improves performance and makes your system stable with dual core systems, alot of people with dual core have been having slow ups and speed ups, if you dont believe do the hotfix, and make sure to bench before you do it, and youl see a difference of 2-5%, also this thread is to ensure all dual core users that there cpu will be 100% stable with no issues or problems.

[tatts]

i do beleive you & not having ago, i got a performance loss installing SP2 on a single core & it played hell with my rig making me format it hence it wont go on again. ive been running my x2 @ 2.7ghz for 3days without any problems & primed for 4 hours, havnt seen any slow ups or slow downs in any games but maybe because im only on SP1?

[GAR]

i do beleive you & not having ago, i got a performance loss installing SP2 on a single core & it played hell with my rig making me format it hence it wont go on again. ive been running my x2 @ 2.7ghz for 3days without any problems & primed for 4 hours, havnt seen any slow ups or slow downs in any games but maybe because im only on SP1?

Maybe so, but MS will include this fix in their Service Pack 3......that should be released soemtime spring 2006.

[One_Hertz]

Gar, Thanks a bunch. :toast: This worked for me. CS was smooth like butter the whole 3 hours I was playing last night. :banana: :banana: Prior to this, CS would get progressively choppier the longer I played. I recommend anybody with Gaming problems to try this. :fact:

Yep same with me. Thanks again GAR!

[bigjohns97]

One thing i would like to add in my testing of all this dual-core gaming....

I have found the best config is to install like OP said but don't enter in the registry entry. This fixes the having to set affinity to one core on some of my games (madden, SC:CT) and i know C'n'Q isn't screwing me either. :)

BTW when i first started out with x2 4400 i was trashing dual core saying there wasn't any extra performance and it had nothing to offer but heat and voltage.

I WAS WRONG ....

The new dual-core drivers from nvidia along with the tweaks mentioned in this thread to make sure your software/os is taking full advantage my games have never been smoother. And i know alot of people with nice systems (friend has 3700 @ 2.7 w/x850, another has p4 @ 3.6 w/ x850) and they marvel at my smoothness all the time.

[GAR]

You guy are welcome, thats awsome how it helped so many people, well like 4...hehe but still

[buckshot]

You guy are welcome, thats awsome how it helped so many people, well like 4...hehe but still


Gar, you saved us from alot of frustration :clap: :D

[GAR]

Gar, you saved us from alot of frustration :clap: :D

I love helping people, so im glad it helped!!! :toast:

[aiya_au]

you've helped 4 people that have replied to this thread, but countless others that just read it, do it, and take advantage of it ;)

[GAR]

you've helped 4 people that have replied to this thread, but countless others that just read it, do it, and take advantage of it ;)

Hopefully...... :D

[Jodiuh]

you've helped 4 people that have replied to this thread, but countless others that just read it, do it, and take advantage of it ;)

Registered just to thank ya for the friendly toned post. Thanks!

Now I just have to figure out why I crash in acronis true image. Related to dep? Do you guys disable dep on your x2's? I've disabled it since its debut cause it would kill ut2k4...

Jod ;-)

[Kunaak]

sticky done.

nice write up :D

[GAR]

Awsome, thanks alot fellas, really apreciate it...... cheers for the sticky, ill have a drink to that tonight cheers everyone :toast:

[ginfest]

Registered just to thank ya for the friendly toned post. Thanks!

Now I just have to figure out why I crash in acronis true image. Related to dep? Do you guys disable dep on your x2's? I've disabled it since its debut cause it would kill ut2k4...

Jod ;-)

I'm runing DEP on mine for all programs. I have just done a fresh install after upgrading to the hw in my sig, installed and ran Acronis, no probs.
I've noticed on mine that WinXP/SP2 will note which programs can't run with DEP and need an exception automatically. As I've installed/run some programs DEP warning would pop up and ask if I wanted to put them on the exclude list. So far the EQ2 installer and Launchpad, Alcohol 120%, Prime 95 and Stress Prime are the only ones that have caused a problem and had to be excluded. And as I said windows popped up a warning and let me do it automatically.
I don't have UT 2K4 installed anymore but FEAR, Q4, EQ2 (the main game exe) AOE2 and 2 EA Sports games are all running fine with DEP on.

[Harshal]

Man, I was having trouble with my NFS MW showing some jerks in between, my solution to that was Alt+Tab and in Task manager "SET AFFINITY" to core 1 and everything went smooth as it should.... I will try this and I am quite sure this will help the situation.

[Russ_64]

Just ordered my X2 4400 - just the info & links I needed, thanks a ton m8!

[rastaseb]

this operation is highly recommanded on opty dual core or only for X2?

[buckshot]

this operation is highly recommanded on opty dual core or only for X2?



It should work for both.

[WepX]

Firstly, Hi to all :)
Nice forums.

Secondly, nice post but I have a problem.After installing the hotfix,when the pc reboots,just after the boot screen I get a BSOD and an error saying 'Page fault in a non paged area'

Any ideas what this could be.
I had to use system restore to go back in safe mode.

Thanks
AMD x2 4400
Asus AN8 Sli Premium

[GAR]

Firstly, Hi to all :)
Nice forums.

Secondly, nice post but I have a problem.After installing the hotfix,when the pc reboots,just after the boot screen I get a BSOD and an error saying 'Page fault in a non paged area'

Any ideas what this could be.
I had to use system restore to go back in safe mode.

Thanks
AMD x2 4400
Asus AN8 Sli Premium

Hey, thanks, if you are overclocking disable cool n quiet, even if you arent, i would disable it anyway......and make sure you did the fix exactly as directed, uninstall the hot fix from add/remove in control panel and start over.

[WepX]

Thanks for the reply.
I uninstalled the hotfix.

Installed the amd driver..rebooted...OK
Installed the hotfix..rebooted..BSOD
Same error,
Paged_fault_in_a_non_paged_area
0x00000050 (0x80705000,0x00000000,0xE15C047E,0x00000000 )

Appreciate the help

CnQ disabled

[WepX]

Another note is...I can install either the hotfix OR the amd drivers with no problems.Just cant have them both on :(

[freshjive]

I tried it last night and it worked fine on my computer (AMD X2 4400, GA-K8N Ultra SLI, 7800GTX).

Before I had 76XX when I ran 3DMark05, now I get 7833 :)

Sweet! Thanks GAR!

[Major]

I installed on Monday without any issues with Opteron 180. I didn't see any improvement on benches though.

[GAR]

Thanks for the reply.
I uninstalled the hotfix.

Installed the amd driver..rebooted...OK
Installed the hotfix..rebooted..BSOD
Same error,
Paged_fault_in_a_non_paged_area
0x00000050 (0x80705000,0x00000000,0xE15C047E,0x00000000 )

Appreciate the help

CnQ disabled

check your bios and see if there is an option to disable cool n quiet, if there is do so and try again...see what happens.

[flabeachbum]

great sticky the only thing you may want
to add is to back-up registry first.

[GAR]

great sticky the only thing you may want
to add is to back-up registry first.

Great idea, i shall add that in the post.

[ben ifin]

Hi

Sorry if this is a repeat, but I did not see a clear answer in the thread.

If both Cool and Quiet & CPU Throttling is disabled in the BIOS, then why are these AMD drivers and REG fixs needed / necessary ?

Ben

[bigjohns97]

Ben the reg fix is not needed if you are not using C&Q.

[GAR]

Actually, if you dont have these drivers and the other stuff done in a dual core system, you will most likely get speed ups and slwo downs after an hour of gaming or more, not with all games and not in all cases, you might be fine without drivers or registry entries....but these steps ensure stability and performance, these steps will give you a 1-5% increase in performance, uninstall everything do a benchmark, then install and bench, you will see a slight increase :D

[ION84]

I am having a problem with cool and quiet with my opteron 165 on my MSI K8N Neo4 F. The cpu is very new (just arrived 3 days ago and hadn't time to see about performance and overclocking issues. Also it is pretested from trend4pc.de to do 9*305@1.5 but for now I will stay default). But what I did notice is that cool & quiet doesn't affect the multiplier and vcore. Before opteron 165 I had a venice 3000+ and cool and quiet was correctly setting my cpu at 5*200/1.1V when I was selecting low power from windows. Now, no matter which power scheme I choose, the opty stays at 9*200/1.350. So far I have done the following:

-Updated to the latest bios

-Enabled cool and quiet on Bios

-Installed the amdcpu.exe driver from AMD's site (By the way I also tried the one from MSI's site but I think it's older than AMD's and now I see that device manager reports version 1.2.2.0, would the correct be 1.2.2.2?)

-Made sure my Boot.ini is ok as described in this sticky

-Edited my registry as advised by the sticky

-The only thing missing is the hotfix by ms but I can't use the english version because it refuses to install on my localized copy of windows xp pro sp2 because of language incompatibility as it says. I have already asked microsoft for the correct hotfix and waiting for reply.

Any one with a same board as my MSI K8N Neo4 F had a similar experience or a correctly working dual core cpu with this mainboard?

[GAR]

I am having a problem with cool and quiet with my opteron 165 on my MSI K8N Neo4 F. The cpu is very new (just arrived 3 days ago and hadn't time to see about performance and overclocking issues. Also it is pretested from trend4pc.de to do 9*305@1.5 but for now I will stay default). But what I did notice is that cool & quiet doesn't affect the multiplier and vcore. Before opteron 165 I had a venice 3000+ and cool and quiet was correctly setting my cpu at 5*200/1.1V when I was selecting low power from windows. Now, no matter which power scheme I choose, the opty stays at 9*200/1.350. So far I have done the following:

-Updated to the latest bios

-Enabled cool and quiet on Bios

-Installed the amdcpu.exe driver from AMD's site (By the way I also tried the one from MSI's site but I think it's older than AMD's and now I see that device manager reports version 1.2.2.0, would the correct be 1.2.2.2?)

-Made sure my Boot.ini is ok as described in this sticky

-Edited my registry as advised by the sticky

-The only thing missing is the hotfix by ms but I can't use the english version because it refuses to install on my localized copy of windows xp pro sp2 because of language incompatibility as it says. I have already asked microsoft for the correct hotfix and waiting for reply.

Any one with a same board as my MSI K8N Neo4 F had a similar experience or a correctly working dual core cpu with this mainboard?

Try this, first clear your cmos (bios), second, make sure you disable cool and quiet, you shouldnt have cool n quiet enabled if your ever going to overclock, even if your arent i wuold suggest you disabling it anyway. try that see what happens.

[ION84]

For start I would like to actually see cool and quiet working. Right now I have a weak psu and I won't overclock until I replace it (hec 385) with enermax 535.

I will try disabling c&q by clearing cmos but what I want is to see c&q working as it did on my venice.

It would be very nice if someone with same board as mine (or even different), could tell us if c&q works ok with dual core A64/opteron 939 at default.

[ION84]

Tried clearing cmos but no luck. I booted into windows and C&Q didn't work. Then rebooted again and enabled C&Q from the bios but still no luck. Any ideas?

[GAR]

Tried clearing cmos but no luck. I booted into windows and C&Q didn't work. Then rebooted again and enabled C&Q from the bios but still no luck. Any ideas?

what board are you using?

[ION84]

MSI K8N Neo4 F

[phadeout]

When I enable the Reg Key (used the provided pre-made reg file), I get into windows, but get a "critical error". windows keeps working (didn't try to run anything).

I disabled it, and rebooted, no "critical error".


BTW, i've never noticed any stuttering in games/benches so far anyways... If I'm brave enough to try the reg set to 1 again, I'll take a screen of the critical error window.

Oh, and before I just installed the hotfix and didn't edit the registry.. this was fine too with no problems.

[GAR]

MSI K8N Neo4 F

hmmmm........i dont know why it should do that, im sure its something with cool n quiet......

[GAR]

When I enable the Reg Key (used the provided pre-made reg file), I get into windows, but get a "critical error". windows keeps working (didn't try to run anything).

I disabled it, and rebooted, no "critical error".


BTW, i've never noticed any stuttering in games/benches so far anyways... If I'm brave enough to try the reg set to 1 again, I'll take a screen of the critical error window.

Oh, and before I just installed the hotfix and didn't edit the registry.. this was fine too with no problems.

wierd.....

[ION84]

Anyone with an MSI K8N Ne04 F and an opteron to tell us if he had better luck?

[Beatle]

Hotfix for all the other laguages, not only english.Not done for me , i read it was modified by someone called IRONCATAN.
It worked for me , my system is in spanish.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M3HVW4UI

[ION84]

Installed it but Cool & Quiet still doesn't work :( (I am reminding that I am not talking about performance problems, just that the multi and vcore don't drop as it should).

Any ideas? Anyone with MSI K8N Neo4 F and dualcore opteron to help a little? Or even with other boards so that I can blame my board?

[GAR]

Installed it but Cool & Quiet still doesn't work :( (I am reminding that I am not talking about performance problems, just that the multi and vcore don't drop as it should).

Any ideas? Anyone with MSI K8N Neo4 F and dualcore opteron to help a little? Or even with other boards so that I can blame my board?

it might be your board, ive got an extra DFI SLI-D motherboard laying around, brand new back from RMA..... http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=162096

[ION84]

it might be your board, ive got an extra DFI SLI-D motherboard laying around, brand new back from RMA..... http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=162096

MSI confirmed that it is my board after all. So would you ship your dfi to Europe Greece? How much do you ask? :)

[Super Nade]

Hi GAR. I was having the exact same problems you spoke of after a few hours of gaming. Things are a lot better now. Thanks!

BTW*Opty 165 user here. :)

[GAR]

Hi GAR. I was having the exact same problems you spoke of after a few hours of gaming. Things are a lot better now. Thanks!

BTW*Opty 165 user here. :)

Youre welcome!

[ION84]

New 1B bios is out and now C&Q works just fine! :)

[Vassili]

Hmm sorry but I am confused, which driver do I need to use for a dual-core Opteron 165 (socket 939)?

[SRoode]

Gar,

Registered to say thanks. I just changed from a FX-53 to a x2 4400+, and there was a bit of choppiness. Also, I noticed when I ran a CPU intensive app, like rthdribl, the app would be split about 50/50 between the cores. Now, it gets dedicated to 1 core. If I open another occurence, it goes to the other.

I also noticed that after applying the hotfix that certain programs, like WMP, automatically gets it's affinity set to Core1. So, I think the hotfix sets affinities appropriately.

I have had no BSODs, or any problems of any kind.

Thanks again!

[GAR]

Hmm sorry but I am confused, which driver do I need to use for a dual-core Opteron 165 (socket 939)?

these are the drivers that apply to your cpu, download the one for your OS.... http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9033,00.html

and to the guy above, your welcome man, this is why i made the thread to help people who dont know about this.

[HKPolice]

Applying the registry setting after installing the hotfix increased my idle temperature by 3C with no measureable increase in performance :(

Removed the reg setting and it's back to normal now.

[MonkSP]

Win 64 bits users don't need to update to this right? I have the x2 3800+.

[GAR]

Win 64 bits users don't need to update to this right? I have the x2 3800+.

i dont think you do.

[k0nsl]

Thanks GAR for the useful information.

Only one thing.

Change:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html
(AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor Utilities and Updates)

To:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html
(AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Utilities & Updates)

:toast:

-k0nsl

[GAR]

Thanks GAR for the useful information.

Only one thing.

Change:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_9706,00.html
(AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor Utilities and Updates)

To:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html
(AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor Utilities & Updates)

:toast:

-k0nsl

Thanks for the heads up man, i changed it.

[deff_ins]

i ran some 3dmark05 tests with and without amd driver... no performance change...
dfi expert
opteron 170 2,9ghz
corsair tccd 2x512
7800gtx

3dmark05
with amd driver: 9190, 9189
with ms driver: 9189, 9184

but cnq dont work for me - it just freeze at windows startup when cnq is enabled. with cnq disabled windows works fine with amd driver, patch and reg entry... maybe its experts fault?
one is clear - with amd driver need for speed mw problem is gone :)

[ben ifin]

Hi Gar

I can see the point of the reg edit / fix and turning off C&Q and CPU Throttling in the BIOS etc.... *BUT* what is the point of the BOOT.INI edit - you suggest editing the BOOT.INI as follows:-

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer

Whats the point of this BOOT.INI if everythign else is done ?

Also, what does the " S " stand for / do ?

Ben

[GAR]

Hey,

just make sure /usepmtimer is at the end of your boot.ini, then you should be find.

[ben ifin]

Hi GAR

Can you elaborate on what the /usepmtimer will do if I put it into my boot.ini ?

Ben

[Dissolved]

Hi GAR

Can you elaborate on what the /usepmtimer will do if I put it into my boot.ini ?

Ben


via Ars OpenForums:

"So it appears that with the intro of XP SP2 & 2K3 SP1 an additional switch was created for the boot.ini: /usepmtimer.

It appears to correct issues with SpeedStep/related power management features & ACPI HALs where by a processor will clock itself down which may cause the Time Stamp Counter (TSC) to change.

When drivers call hal!HalpPmTimerStallExecProc, they may call for a 50µs wait time, for example, but that wait time increases because the processor is in a different state (not "full power") and creates a longer wait time that is not intended."

"It seems like a crude fix to handle that certain BIOS cannot provide a stable clock when entering power saving modes

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/Q835730
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/Q895980"

[GAR]

Your answer is in the above post, good job man.

[k0nsl]

Guys, the hotfix from MS only works for WinXP installations that are in the English language. Does somebody have the patch or hotfix for other languages? Someone did post a link to a "hacked" version but the link is not working anymore.

EDIT
link is working, I am downloading now, hopefully it works...

-k0nsl

[Jodiuh]

Win 64 bits users don't need to update to this right? I have the x2 3800+.

i dont think you do.

"update" meaning the hotfix, right? You'll still need the driver? Does anyone have any comments/experience with the differences between win32 and win64? Is it smoother or anything nifty?

[knob]

this is a great guide! Kudos

[wisedude]

please help. I installed the hotfix but now when i go to add/remove programs I can't find it. Whats it called. Also, does it mean i didn't really install it if i can't find it. The setup said it was complete and i downloaded it from the link from this thread????????

[GAR]

please help. I installed the hotfix but now when i go to add/remove programs I can't find it. Whats it called. Also, does it mean i didn't really install it if i can't find it. The setup said it was complete and i downloaded it from the link from this thread????????

when you are in add/remove in the top right side there is a box that says show updates, click on that and its update numbered WindowsXP-KB896256.

[Titus]

is there a way I can tell if I have the AMD dual core driver installed on my system?

[GAR]

is there a way I can tell if I have the AMD dual core driver installed on my system?

go into device manager, click on processors and the drivers version should be 5.1.2600.0 , also the provider is advanced micro devices.

[Jaco]

is this only for winXP SP2 ?

I'm using SP1 , should i install this hotfix? I'm moving to dualcore soon.

thanks

[GAR]

is this only for winXP SP2 ?

I'm using SP1 , should i install this hotfix? I'm moving to dualcore soon.

thanks

i dont think you need it, but im not 100% sure. You should install the driver tho, not sure about the hotfix.

[Titus]

go into device manager, click on processors and the drivers version should be 5.1.2600.0 , also the provider is advanced micro devices.

under device manager and processors my driver version is currently listed as 1.2.2.0...the AMD dual core driver listed on AMD's site is listed as 1.2.2.1...you sure it will show up as 5.1.2600.0 when installed?...it seems like it would make more sense for it to show up as 1.2.2.1 :confused:

[Titus]

under device manager and processors my driver version is currently listed as 1.2.2.0...the AMD dual core driver listed on AMD's site is listed as 1.2.2.1...you sure it will show up as 5.1.2600.0 when installed?...it seems like it would make more sense for it to show up as 1.2.2.1 :confused:

BUMP

[MaxT]

mine shows up as 1.2.2.0 as well. I am pretty sure that's correct.

[Titus]

mine shows up as 1.2.2.0 as well. I am pretty sure that's correct.

so does that mean you have the AMD dual core driver installed?...cuz the AMD website lists the dual core driver version as 1.2.2.1

:confused:

[GAR]

i apoligise, if you have the amd driver installed it should be 1.2.2.0...my mistake

[Titus]

i apoligise, if you have the amd driver installed it should be 1.2.2.0...my mistake

so why on the AMD website is the dual core driver version listed as 1.2.2.1?...

[GAR]

so why on the AMD website is the dual core driver version listed as 1.2.2.1?...

now thats a question to ask AMD and microsoft.

[rcillig]

wow thanks guys.... I missed this some how !

[Benmandude]

Well I had the AMD drivers installed on XP 64 and then I tried unistalling them to see what the difference was and I got a 6000 point increase in 3dmark05. The drivers definitely dont help on XP 64. At least for me.

However im still getting stuttering in games even with only one core set on the game.

[GAR]

6 thousand, woah.....thats kind of hard to believe that drivers would make that much of a difference, even if you enabled cool and quiet wouldnt make a big difference like that....

[Ryn]

just installed this hot fix on my X2 3800+ and my problem on playing music has disappeared. before installing this fix, my mp3's stutters and will sometimes skip a couple of seconds or play music at twice the speeds.

[Jodiuh]

...my mp3's stutters and will sometimes skip a couple of seconds or play music at twice the speeds.

You know I'm actually kinda bummed I installed the driver right away. I never got a chance to experience the bug/issue...and therefore may not ever TRULY appreciate the fix!

[Benmandude]

Woops, typo. 600 points not 6000. That would be a huge difference. Also figured out my problem wasnt associated with the processor. Stupid driver conflict.

[Jodiuh]

So is there a final word? Do I need the reg fix in addition to the driver? I've noticed hitching in BF2 while in 3rd person view on a truck/car. Also, NFS MW hitches terribly.

[GAR]

So is there a final word? Do I need the reg fix in addition to the driver? I've noticed hitching in BF2 while in 3rd person view on a truck/car. Also, NFS MW hitches terribly.

If you have a dual core cpu, just follow these steps as directed and your problems will go away, easy as 1,2,3. :toast:

[Jodiuh]

If you have a dual core cpu, just follow these steps as directed and your problems will go away, easy as 1,2,3. :toast:

Well, I have the driver installed, but I haven't applied the ms fix. Also, I've never dled an m$ patch only to edit the reg. Wouldnt' the patch do that for me?

[GAR]

Well, I have the driver installed, but I haven't applied the ms fix. Also, I've never dled an m$ patch only to edit the reg. Wouldnt' the patch do that for me?

the registry actually enables the fix, also people have gotten improved performance from the fix, so i suggest installing it.

[Jodiuh]

the registry actually enables the fix, also people have gotten improved performance from the fix, so i suggest installing it.

Cool, thanks. That's what I wanted to know ;-)

[KELTICKNIGHT]

GUYS
after l installed this fix,whrn windows reboots,it comes to a screen saying hardware ans software utility
profile 1 .have to press profile 1 to enter windows,how can l fix this

[FZ1]

Is it me or is the link to the download not working? I'm getting a laoded page but it contains the text "The Request File not Found"

[rcillig]

I got a increase in 3dmark of 600 for 05 and 750 for 01.. so it worked for me I guess!

[FZ1]

Is it me or is the link to the download not working? I'm getting a laoded page but it contains the text "The Request File not Found"
Bueller? Bueller?

[k0nsl]

Notice:

I advice people who are not using a English WinXP installation to e-mail MS personally and receive the hotfix. I did that and they sent me a newly uploaded hotfix which they uploaded on their website and when they saw that I had downloaded it, they deleted it right away. Probably to prevent leeching.

Here is what they told me in regards to this fix:



Hi Franz,

The hotfix has not been made publicly available because it has not been fully tested and we are not sure if it causes more issues. That is why this hotfix should only be installed if you have the issue. We also want to follow up on customers who install this fix so we know if there are any issues.

If you have any feedback regarding the case or the support in general, I would appreciate it if you could let us know.

A couple of questions I would like you to consider:

* How did you experience the support?
* Is there any particular issue that you found particularly troublesome/annoying?
* What can we do better in future?


Happy New Year and thank you for contacting Microsoft.


So for localized and perhaps a newer version of this hotfix I suggest mailing Microsoft and ask them for a copy: msconusATmicrosoftDOTcom (AT=@, DOT=.)

Be sure to include this information when mailing them:



HOT FIX:
===================================
Operating system: WinXP Professional
SP: Service Pack 2
Language: German (or whatever language your installation is)

Product for hot fix: (if it's different from OS) - or delete these three rows.
SP: (if there is any)
Language:

Other:
Hot Fix Qxxxxxx
==============================


:)

-k0nsl

[GAR]

hey sorry for the broken link, i updated the link, works fine now.

[Jodiuh]

I advice people who are not using a English WinXP installation to e-mail MS personally and receive the hotfix.

Thanks bro, done. Wasn't sure what to put here tho:

Hot Fix Qxxxxxx

Just mentioned the kb896256 Dual Core/Multi proc issue. They're M$, surely they can figure it out, right...right?

[KELTICKNIGHT]

fixed my prob,

[ecl1pz]

Hey..

I was wondering.. How can someone with the same motherboard and hardware as me NOT have problems with the X2 and I have them.. It can't be hardware related.. so its OS related.. they working on a fix for this ? Before I set the fix, installations of programs were corrupted, start menu flickered when you hit it, games constantly droped me (bf2) after an hour or so of game play. I patched, everything seems to have worked, but I don't know if I should just go back to my 3500+ from my 4400+. I don't see any real preformance gains.. all I see is still some weird performance issues even with the patch, but the patch fixed like 90% of all the problems. The only problem I see now is that I don't load as fast, and run games as fast and as "chop free" as before.

[GAR]

dont go back to the single core, if you did the patches and drivers as directed you won have any issues what so ever.

[Jodiuh]

Before I set the fix, installations of programs were corrupted, start menu flickered when you hit it, games constantly droped me (bf2) after an hour or so of game play.

That sounds like something else entirely. Honestly, it sounds like heat/psu issue.

[ecl1pz]

That sounds like something else entirely. Honestly, it sounds like heat/psu issue.


That what I thought but I Checked out everything. Only when I applied the fix, all these problems went away. I just put on a new thermaltake 120mm HSF.. if anything bios reported my temps lower than before..

[ecl1pz]

dont go back to the single core, if you did the patches and drivers as directed you won have any issues what so ever.


I mean I thought that, but look how severe my problems were. I mean In my mind I have such severe underlying problems and its just buggin at me. Yeah I really dont wan't to go through all that again.. Do you have any idea when an integrated OS fix would come.. well sp3 .. ?

[GAR]

I mean I thought that, but look how severe my problems were. I mean In my mind I have such severe underlying problems and its just buggin at me. Yeah I really dont wan't to go through all that again.. Do you have any idea when an integrated OS fix would come.. well sp3 .. ?

i think sp3 will have these fixes in it, but im not 100% sure on that, because not everyone uses dual core.

[Jodiuh]

...because not everyone uses dual core.

For shame!

[Interiit]

I'm into my third day with the X2 4400, I've installed the new drivers and did the hotfix. At first everything went fine (although I didn't run any games for more than an hour or so). Today I'm getting a single "beep" upon startup (from power being off but not on reset) and I crashed to the blue screen of death after playing COD2 for about 20 min (the comp had been on for a few hours however). Any ideas? Should I deleted the hotfix and reinstall or what? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. CnQ was disabled when I crashed

I'm running:
Abit Fatality AN8 SLI
AMD X2 4400+
2 gigs Corsair XMS
ATI X800XT 256meg
Win XP Home edition SP2

[GAR]

I'm into my third day with the X2 4400, I've installed the new drivers and did the hotfix. At first everything went fine (although I didn't run any games for more than an hour or so). Today I'm getting a single "beep" upon startup (from power being off but not on reset) and I crashed to the blue screen of death after playing COD2 for about 20 min (the comp had been on for a few hours however). Any ideas? Should I deleted the hotfix and reinstall or what? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. CnQ was disabled when I crashed

I'm running:
Abit Fatality AN8 SLI
AMD X2 4400+
2 gigs Corsair XMS
ATI X800XT 256meg
Win XP Home edition SP2

umm......the hotfix and drivers have nothing to do with yout bios beeping what so ever, as far as the Blue screen of death try uninstalling the hotfix and see if it happens again....then well take it from there.

[Jonny5isalivetm]

Just want to say thanks GAR :-)





Jonny5

[Interiit]

Well I got rid of the hotfix and played for awhile yesterday with no problems but crashed to blue screen today after about 10min of play. So it seems to be kinda random. weird....will reinstall the hotfix and see if I still get problems.

[GAR]

Well I got rid of the hotfix and played for awhile yesterday with no problems but crashed to blue screen today after about 10min of play. So it seems to be kinda random. weird....will reinstall the hotfix and see if I still get problems.

make sure you edit the registry to enable the fix, also check your boot.ini see /usepmtimer is in it.

[GAR]

Just want to say thanks GAR :-)





Jonny5

ur welcome dude!

[Kalero]

1.i installed the AMD driver
2. installed the hotfix
3. applied the .reg file (the one that need.for.mhz posted)
did i do it correct?
thanks

[GAR]

1.i installed the AMD driver
2. installed the hotfix
3. applied the .reg file (the one that need.for.mhz posted)
did i do it correct?
thanks

yeah make sure you edit your registry to enable the hotfix, just follow the steps on the 1st page, check everything off.

[Jodiuh]

Wait, wait. I thought the fix was enabled by installing the hotfix?

[Interiit]

Update: reinstalled hotfix and enabled it, also made sure I had /usepmtimer in my boot.ini I no longer am crashing to a blue screen but instead I occasionlly get freeze-ups in various different games. Is there anything else I can do? It seems most people's problems end upon enabling the hotfix...I wonder if I'm doing something incorrect? Followed the steps exactly....any insights would be well appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[GAR]

aright guys, go to the first page, read everything, print it out and follow all the steps, i tell you how to enable it, so print it out and follow all instructions and you should be alright.

[Dagalidis]

aright guys, go to the first page, read everything, print it out and follow all the steps, i tell you how to enable it, so print it out and follow all instructions and you should be alright.


GAR thank you very much my friend.. :toast:

5 % Boost so far and more stable after patch installed and enabled.. :D

[187(V)URD@]

Is there a dutch language fix for XP? English won't work offcourse.

[GAR]

in order to get other languages i think you have to contact MS.

[CODE 4]

FYI this fix worked for all My BF2 connection/playing problems. I do not need winlaucher at all anymore.

[GAR]

FYI this fix worked for all My BF2 connection/playing problems. I do not need winlaucher at all anymore.

good to hear dude.

[Bulldog]

Great Guide tried on 2 different gaming rigs and both have no worries..Thank You.

[CODE 4]

Hey I am switching back to a single core opteron. Do i need to remove this? How do I do it properly? Thanks

[GAR]

pmed you.

[iller]

Is there a fix for XP Pro x64 english version? I get The updatebr.inf file is invalid when I use the file you suggested.

[GAR]

Is there a fix for XP Pro x64 english version? I get The updatebr.inf file is invalid when I use the file you suggested.

From what i know, there is no fix for windows xp64......try emailing MS.

[revlimiter9000]

Thanks GAR for the update. :toast:

[Opteron96]

So how do the computer behave after the ms hotfix and AMD x2 driver.
Is it smooter?

I use AMD x2 driver, but dont know i i shoud install the ms hotfix.

[Jodiuh]

I did...seems "smoother" Tho I didn't screw with the reg and still don't think ya should ;-)

[Orr]

What happens if you install the driver and/or hotfix etc in a different order?

Also how can you remove the hotfix if you wanted to install them from scratch?

[cdelong]

If I swap CPU's frequently from single core to dual core should I install this hotfix? Will I need to un-install if I swap from dual core 170 to single core 146?

.... and what's the best way to backup the registry before doing this?

thanks!

[GAR]

TO remove the hotfix just follow these steps.

1 - uninstall the hotfix, go into ad/remove programs, click on show updates and remove update numbered KB896256

2 - reverse the registry entrie

3 - uninstall the drivers

4 - go into your boot.ini and remove /usepmtimer

[Orr]

Thanks GAR, my machine still freezes or restarts after installing all the fixes so I though I might remove them all aside from the AMD drivers and see how it goes. Then if it still freezes I'll install them in order.

[espressx]

I never dl'ed the hot fix or any of that crap and had a problem with cs which i found to be funny since cs:s runs smooth as butter, after about 2 hours of looking threw crap that wanted me to install stuff etc, (im not a fan of) i noticed when u go to task manager there is an affinity thing on the bottom, curious (went from 2.26 b4 and wasnt there, its a set the prog to what core, simply whenever u run it b4 u go into a game or anything uncheck one of the cores, game runs fast and fine now no patch or anything needed.
HOW TO FIX::::
CLT ALT DEL
go to HL.exe right click
SET AFFINITY
UNCHECK ONE OF THE CORES

all better
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@
im poor from being a working adult with a mortage car payments etc however system is:
175 opteron 0530 core untouch for the moment
1 gig non dual channel 2.5 3 3 8 t2 ( 2 dual channel 512total, plus 512 1 stick :( )
crappy ass chaintech s1689 mother board 7/14 bios
9800 xt 8x 256mb oc'd 415c / 660m
300g diamond max maxtor 16mb sata 150
sound blaster audigy platium +
sony mdr-v900 headphones
xp pro

[iller]

I contacted MS, and there is no hotfix for x64, but they promised to check if there was one on the way.

[Silver Fox]

Note to WinXP SP1 users: None of this works with SP1. The hotfix and AMD's drivers won't install unless you have SP2.

This kinda sucks, cause I have some issues atm moment, and there's really no way for me to fix it. Right after a reboot, the system is perfectly fine. But after about 1 hour or so, things stutter. Even like animated gifs stutter. Anyone know a way to fix it for SP1 users? Only way to fix the stuttering atm is to set the affinity to 1 core, which is pretty annoying.

[GAR]

Note to WinXP SP1 users: None of this works with SP1. The hotfix and AMD's drivers won't install unless you have SP2.

This kinda sucks, cause I have some issues atm moment, and there's really no way for me to fix it. Right after a reboot, the system is perfectly fine. But after about 1 hour or so, things stutter. Even like animated gifs stutter. Anyone know a way to fix it for SP1 users? Only way to fix the stuttering atm is to set the affinity to 1 core, which is pretty annoying.

Hmmmm.....the only way to really fix it, is to upgrade to sp2.

[Jodiuh]

espressx:
But then you lose the benefit of dual core gaming!! :stick: :stick:

[palehorse]

I never dl'ed the hot fix or any of that crap and had a problem with cs which i found to be funny since cs:s runs smooth as butter, after about 2 hours of looking threw crap that wanted me to install stuff etc, (im not a fan of) i noticed when u go to task manager there is an affinity thing on the bottom, curious (went from 2.26 b4 and wasnt there, its a set the prog to what core, simply whenever u run it b4 u go into a game or anything uncheck one of the cores, game runs fast and fine now no patch or anything needed.
HOW TO FIX::::
CLT ALT DEL
go to HL.exe right click
SET AFFINITY
UNCHECK ONE OF THE CORES

all better
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@
im poor from being a working adult with a mortage car payments etc however system is:
175 opteron 0530 core untouch for the moment
1 gig non dual channel 2.5 3 3 8 t2 ( 2 dual channel 512total, plus 512 1 stick :( )
crappy ass chaintech s1689 mother board 7/14 bios
9800 xt 8x 256mb oc'd 415c / 660m
300g diamond max maxtor 16mb sata 150
sound blaster audigy platium +
sony mdr-v900 headphones
xp pro

GREAT FIND! My only question would be: why in the hell does it list 31 frickin cores!??! lol... a little excessive if you ask me!

but again, I hadnt seen that yet, so ty!

[GAR]

GREAT FIND! My only question would be: why in the hell does it list 31 frickin cores!??! lol... a little excessive if you ask me!

but again, I hadnt seen that yet, so ty!

setting the affinity to a certain core has been said before, this fix allows you to game without crashes, and you dont need to set affinity manually.

[Dark_templar]

This fixed help me too... thankz....

[Speedpc]

Ok I installed the AMD Driver 1.2.2.1 drivers for Dual Core WinXP Pro 64Bit OS
I downloaded the MS Patch you provided (thank you) and when i go to install the patch it run all the way through then stops and gives me this error message: (Setup Error The updaterbr.inf file is invalid) What do i need to do to fix this ?????? Thanks I'll be online till then :)



After reading iller's post: I contacted MS, and there is no hotfix for x64, but they promised to check if there was one on the way. So i gues never mind (lol) Thanks anyways i'll wait

[Radical_53]

I contacted MS, and there is no hotfix for x64, but they promised to check if there was one on the way.

Any news on this? I planned on getting a DC too, but then it should be running the way it's supposed to.
I've been using x64 for like half a year now, and I really don't want to get back to x32.

[GAR]

Any news on this? I planned on getting a DC too, but then it should be running the way it's supposed to.
I've been using x64 for like half a year now, and I really don't want to get back to x32.

by the time they decide to do that, MS VISTA will be out....i hope vista is a good OS.

[buckshot]

I never dl'ed the hot fix or any of that crap and had a problem with cs which i found to be funny since cs:s runs smooth as butter, after about 2 hours of looking threw crap that wanted me to install stuff etc, (im not a fan of) i noticed when u go to task manager there is an affinity thing on the bottom, curious (went from 2.26 b4 and wasnt there, its a set the prog to what core, simply whenever u run it b4 u go into a game or anything uncheck one of the cores, game runs fast and fine now no patch or anything needed.
HOW TO FIX::::
CLT ALT DEL
go to HL.exe right click
SET AFFINITY
UNCHECK ONE OF THE CORES

all better


:confused: :confused:

Why would you want to do this everytime you played a game? GAR's method is painless and reversible if needed.

[RAndomaN]

I had various problems with my Dual Core and when i got my new graphics card and mobo, i decided to go about try this. Upon doing this im still having the same problems, infact, id say its worse after doing this fix. It seems to just treat the CPU as one core and eats both cores cycles regardless. Still get slow downs, major slow downs. Basically really bad lag spikes. Also another problem is on wow i have a max fps of 64fps after installing my dual core. Anyone got any ideas ? would love to have some advice :( Its so bad im tempted to go back to my 3200+

[Jodiuh]

You know, it's weird. I'm getting the lag now even after I've installed the driver and the hotfix. Tho this winstall's been pretty abused with BSOD's due to the nappy x1900xt I got.

For the record, should we be installing the AMD driver...when...before chipset drivers? And what about the hotfix? Probably doesn't matter...

[GAR]

You know, it's weird. I'm getting the lag now even after I've installed the driver and the hotfix. Tho this winstall's been pretty abused with BSOD's due to the nappy x1900xt I got.

For the record, should we be installing the AMD driver...when...before chipset drivers? And what about the hotfix? Probably doesn't matter...

i would install the chipset drivers before anything, then continue the instructions i provided, also make sure you are editing the registry to enable the fix, to disable the fix simply ut 0 in the registry and it will disable the fix, no need to uninstall, just makes it easy, so you can compare.

[JohnnyRingo]

When you use this fix, doesn't affinity get set for every program? Therefore, the comment that was made previously about losing "dual core performance while gaming" is a misnomer, correct?

If this fix, for example, sets affinity automatically for one core when playing BF2, how would you be getting "dual core performance"?

Taking this a step further, does this fix set affinity to single core for all programs once they are started up? If so, how is that a benefit?

[GAR]

When you use this fix, doesn't affinity get set for every program? Therefore, the comment that was made previously about losing "dual core performance while gaming" is a misnomer, correct?

If this fix, for example, sets affinity automatically for one core when playing BF2, how would you be getting "dual core performance"?

Taking this a step further, does this fix set affinity to single core for all programs once they are started up? If so, how is that a benefit?

No the fix does not set the affinity to a certain core, it just fixes a few problems with speed ups and slow downs in several games.

[ChkDsk]

Does anyone has the Dutch version of the MS hotfix?

[Radical_53]

@gar: Well, you might be right with this. I'm looking forward to Vista too. I don't want to have any CPU raw power "lying" around... ;)

[xploit]

Wow this is a must do! if you are running dual core CPUs I just follow the instructions on page one and my system is running smooooootthhh!! thanks! GAR! :)

[proddis]

Hey!

First of all, nice thread! (good job GAR)

I have a few questions.

1. Is there any problem using the english ms-fix on a non-english winxp sp2 system? I mean, I´m running several other ms-apps in english on my swedish xp.

2. Is it possible to install/update the AMD driver, install the ms-fix and fix .reg in a existing system, OR do you have to format and install all the things before you do anything else?

Until now I´ve fixed the problem by setting my games to run in win98 compatibility mode (instead of setting affinity) because I get more fps with win98-mode than with setting affinity to 1 cpu. Does anyone know exactly what win98 comp.mode does to a process?

3. Some applications wont terminate correctly. For example, if I view a .pdf document with adobe acrobat, the acrobat.exe will remain active even when I close the .pdf file. Does the fix deal with problems like this also?

X2 3800+
Asus Nforce4 A8N-E
ATI Radeon x800xl ultimate
winxp pro sp2

[TinTin]

No fix for Chinese Windows :(

[GAR]

Hey!

First of all, nice thread! (good job GAR)

I have a few questions.

1. Is there any problem using the english ms-fix on a non-english winxp sp2 system? I mean, I´m running several other ms-apps in english on my swedish xp.

2. Is it possible to install/update the AMD driver, install the ms-fix and fix .reg in a existing system, OR do you have to format and install all the things before you do anything else?

Until now I´ve fixed the problem by setting my games to run in win98 compatibility mode (instead of setting affinity) because I get more fps with win98-mode than with setting affinity to 1 cpu. Does anyone know exactly what win98 comp.mode does to a process?

3. Some applications wont terminate correctly. For example, if I view a .pdf document with adobe acrobat, the acrobat.exe will remain active even when I close the .pdf file. Does the fix deal with problems like this also?

X2 3800+
Asus Nforce4 A8N-E
ATI Radeon x800xl ultimate
winxp pro sp2

Hey, thanks man, 1- the fix wont work for any other languages sorry buddy, 2-you dont have to format, you can install on a current system, 3-it might fix your problem, might not......

[Radical_53]

If you need the fix for a different language? Ask Google or MS themselves. I found one for my XP (german) on Google.
But MS should supply you with it if you ask for it (don't know why they don't have it for download).

[Trice]

My stuff still jitters even with this fix :(

[Kobalt]

Thank you :D! I recently built my friend a computer with a 165 opteron. Counter-strike would get progressively worse each boot where it would stutter. Your guide fixed everything!

[LiQU!D]

BF2 still appears to be stuttering, oh so very slightly though.

It may just be because I'm pedantic. :stick:

[LiQU!D]

Well...

BF2 is still jerky, however I didn't edit the boot.ini file.

Anyone know if you are supposed to edit it on Windows XP Home Edition?

[alpha0ne]

Well...

BF2 is still jerky, however I didn't edit the boot.ini file.

Anyone know if you are supposed to edit it on Windows XP Home Edition?

I am certainly no expert but I would think so, heres a copy of my the Pro version if its any help :)

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=AlwaysOff /fastdetect /usepmtimer

[Radical_53]

The "/pmtimer" thing is what you're supposed to add. So I guess that works for pro and home versions.

[LiQU!D]

Yeah, GAR has XP Pro by the looks of things aswell. :mad:

I'm not going to edit it until I know that someone has tried it on Windows XP Home Edition. :(

[alpha0ne]

Yeah, GAR has XP Pro by the looks of things aswell. :mad:

I'm not going to edit it until I know that someone has tried it on Windows XP Home Edition. :(

Why dont you do yourself and others a favour and just do it :cool:

I mean, whats the worst that can happen, apart from you rig exploding :eek:

And why is it someone else has to go first :stick: :rolleyes:

Oh and you have forgotten to list all the colours of your individual components in your sig hehehehehe

[LiQU!D]

Why dont you do yourself and others a favour and just do it :cool:

I mean, whats the worst that can happen, apart from you rig exploding :eek:

I don't want to screw up my fresh windows installation. :(


Oh and you have forgotten to list all the colours of your individual components in your sig hehehehehe

Shhh :p:

Well, I've got the 81.95 nVidia drivers installed at the moment, do the 81.98 drivers have a fix for this maybe? :(

[GAR]

Whats up people, this fix seems to be for SP2, so if you have SP2 weather its HOME/PRO it should work fine, plus this is fully reversable, so dont be afraid to mess anything up, give it a shot and let me know the results.

[Trice]

Well it certainly made the stuttering less, but I had to force it to affinity in one of my games.

[Jodiuh]

Well it certainly made the stuttering less, but I had to force it to affinity in one of my games.

Which one? I have to do it for COD2.

[Hellion]

I ve been having the same game stuttering problems .Sometimes i even had complety hang(crash) followed by repeating sound or even cold boots,with my new opteron 165 0551 WPMW.All these in multihour dual prime stable-snm conditions.
Hotfix certainly made things much better.I also found out that errata options are quite relevant and should be set to auto to be 100% sure dual core cpu doesnt have cache access problems.By the way i cant explain why MS doesnt autoupload, with this critical in my opinion hotfix,in their online update service.My best guess is that its beta still and thats why it doesnt fix completely the problem.

Today after playing a few hours online CoD2 and single player Q4,FEAR i found this stuttering problems been somehow related to xplosions or hard swap file accesses.Anyone else that has observed any of those things too?

BTW the rest of my rig is a DFI SLI DR EXPERT,2x1GB Ballistix Tracer still Alive :banana: 2x74GB Raptors on RAID0 and a xfx GTX 256.Also i have an xfi xtrememusic on 1 pci and would like to know really before i put an old ZS to test too if someone has seen the same effect with other onboard or mount Sound card to be 100% sure its not the classic xfi release bug with nf4 chipset stability issue.

[Trice]

Which one? I have to do it for COD2.


NASCAR 2003, although I think BF2 stutters some too...

[LiQU!D]

I think it may have been the graphics drivers I was using. :(

I was using chipset 635 (I think?) and display 81.95.

Now using latest tested versions of both.

I played BF2 a little last night but I'm too lazy to play games at the moment. :eek:

[x1kc]

cant download the hotfix =(

[johnmsch]

I'm trying to install the X2 update, but get two errors. I posted the screenshots here:
http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=68749

Anyone seen this before?

Thx

[dickeywang]

I'm trying to install the X2 update, but get two errors. I posted the screenshots here:
http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=68749

Anyone seen this before?

Thx

Do you have SP2 installed? It seems the AMD driver can't be installed without SP2

[x1kc]

mmmmm i did this thing but still cant play lineage 2 without setting the affinity =(

[LuckMan212]

ok sorry if this has been answered elsewhere in the thread, but the thread is very long now and I didnt see the answer.

If I have CnQ disabled, and I am overclocking (opty 170 @ 2.8ghz) with a slight vcore boost (1.37v) -- is it safe to install the AMD driver? Will that "throttle" my cpu by reducing volts and thus cause me to crash? Also what exactly does the /usepmtimer switch do? I havent seen an explanation of this anywhere and what effect this has on performance.

trying to figure out which, if any, of these tweaks I need to apply.

[GAR]

ok sorry if this has been answered elsewhere in the thread, but the thread is very long now and I didnt see the answer.

If I have CnQ disabled, and I am overclocking (opty 170 @ 2.8ghz) with a slight vcore boost (1.37v) -- is it safe to install the AMD driver? Will that "throttle" my cpu by reducing volts and thus cause me to crash? Also what exactly does the /usepmtimer switch do? I havent seen an explanation of this anywhere and what effect this has on performance.

trying to figure out which, if any, of these tweaks I need to apply.

Hey, to simply answer your question, many of the people including myself are overclocking, as far as crashing that depends on your setup, not the patch, or the driver, and the /usepmtimer, i dont exactly know what it does......also this is fully reversable, so give it a shot if u like and see for yourself, i got nothing but better performance after, good luck!

[LuckMan212]

Thanks GAR, i gave it a shot--- seems to be working! :) i have CnQ disabled in the bios, I installed the AMD proc driver and the reg patch, as well as the boot.ini switch and all seems well, haven't had the negative pings (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89910)anymore either. :D

[Hellion]

Αnybody having problems with game COD2 in winxp x64.Ι guess its got to do with the hotfix issue but no hotfix for x64.Sound stutering problem until after some hour i get a repeating sound hangup.Prime stable conditions.

[GAR]

Αnybody having problems with game COD2 in winxp x64.Ι guess its got to do with the hotfix issue but no hotfix for x64.Sound stutering problem until after some hour i get a repeating sound hangup.Prime stable conditions.

Since your using X64, and there is no fix for X64 yet, and probably wont be either, try setting the affinity to cpu1, see if that helps.....

[Jodiuh]

Here's something fun. With amd driver installed, no windows hotfix, and COD2 "pre inteldualcore" patch, it runs fine.

On a previous windows install, I had the windows hotfix and COD2 patched. It was uber sloppy unless I set affinity.

Wonder what did it? The hotfix or the patch? My money's on the patch, but I don't care to find out since it runs great now, lol!

[freecableguy]

Does this also apply to Windows Server 2003 w/SP1?

[GAR]

Does this also apply to Windows Server 2003 w/SP1?

Nope, the fix is only for windows xp SP2 only...if your having issues id email MS.

[msimax]

hey gar the link for the hotfix is dead

[Indyxc]

hey gar the link for the hotfix is dead

Yeah, I was just going to post that.

[codegrinder]

http://www.amdzone.com/files/WinXPdualcorehotfix.exe

:)

[GAR]

ok, i replaced the download link with the one from amdzone.com, thanks for the link guy above.

[neosho]

Hey guys im really afected by this problem but i have extra one..my XP SP2 is spanish one and i cant fcking find the Fix for XP SP2 Spanish version.. anyone know where i can get it? i would be really happy if someone can help me plz >_<

Greetings guys

[ahpaul82]

How do we know the patch is already installed ?

[revlimiter9000]

ok, i replaced the download link with the one from amdzone.com, thanks for the link guy above. GAR the link from amdzone.com doesn't seem working for me.

[Zenoth]

Ok ...

I just installed Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (fresh install), since I got my new Dual-Core system. Which is: ASUS A8N-SLi Premium/Corsair PC-3200 XL 1GB/AMD Athlon X2 4400+/ATi X1800 XL/Windows XP SP2 Home

My previous system was: Same Memory, Same GPU, but different CPU and Motherboard (which were AMD Athlon 64 3500+ & ASUS A8V Deluxe, respectively) and Windows XP SP1 Home

So, right after installing SP2, I proceeded to install even more updates from the Microsoft web-site. Then, I installed the AMD Dual-Core Drivers version 1.2.2.1 (also showing as 1.2.2.0 in device manager).

Then I installed the Hotfix. After that, I properly edited the Registry to activate the fix (set to "1").

Then, I edited the Boot.ini file with the proper extra switch at the end.

Finally, I installed my games, and tried everything ...

What I can say is the following:

1) I never had stuttering/crashing issues in Battlefield 2 on my previous system, and I still do not have any issues as of now on my new system, so, that's good news.

2) ALL my Steam games (I don't even need to mention which ones, it's simply all of them) are now stuttering, and rarely I get some crashes to Desktop. They never had any issues whatsoever on my previous system.

3) Upon "testing" the differences in my games between my new system (Dual-Core with Hotfix, and old Single-Core system without even SP2 at all) and my old one ... what I can say for sure is that even with the Hotfix, the stuttering issue is still present in perhaps not all, but still many games, and quite popular ones.

Battlefield 2, all my real-time-strategy games (including AoE III), and some others do not "lag", nor stutter at all. They're smooth as they were on my previous system.

But as I mentioned above ... all my Steam games (especially Half-Life 2: Deathmatch) stutter like no tomorrow.

And, yes, I also tried to set the CPU affinity to one Core. It doesn't change anything to the stuttering games.

[xploit]

humm.. the best fix to play your games is to use a program to launch games no more high pings stuttering etC. u guys shoud give it a try is called winxplauncher
get it here -> http://www.majorgeeks.com/download870.html go to programs 1)ADD A PROGRAM 2)find the exe file for your game bf2.exe for example and then set the affinity from there. :)

[Zenoth]

I just tried that WinLauncherXP thingy ...

It changes absolutely nothing. Still stutters.

Valve Software themselves know about most of the Source-based games on Steam suffering from stuttering issues, and they are trying to fix it, once again, as of now, as a Beta fix.

But ...

Why in the great heck I had not a single slow-down/stuttering/lag issue with Steam on my previous system ... I have no idea.

EDIT: I found out what the problem was caused by.

It was a mere Internet Connection-related problem within Steam's options. The type of Connection that was selected was 56K. But I am running on a 1.5MB DSL one. So I changed it to 1MB, and everything runs smooth as air now.

Sometimes it's just related to a software in particular (stuttering/hick-ups/weird lag behaviors), and not the actual hardware.

Well, I'm very happy now. As of now my system is really the fastest I have ever built.

[dstar2002]

I installed this Hot Fix last night, after doing some research on why I got so many lag spikes playing Day of Defeat Source. On my laptop (non dual core) I never got spikes, but on my desktop (AMD X2 4400, much better components all around as well) I would get lag spikes ever 5-10 minutes, and a lot of choke from the graphics card. After playing for four hours last night after this fix, the system had zero faults, my ping improved, FPS went from 70's to 80's in the same areas, and played smooth as melted butter.

Also, my task manager showed me true processor use, instead of just the same old reports. My 3dMark scores went up 300 points, and my computer seems to be faster overall.

Here are my full desktop specs:

Windows Media Center Edition (Havnt seen someone say it worked on this yet, even though it should of by common sense, seeing as Media Center is mostly like a skin for XP)
AMD X2 4400 2.2 ghz (Sometimes I OC to 2.5, didnt while testing)
2 x 250 gb Western Digital SATA II 16mb Cache
2 Gigs (4x512mb) Patriot Memory
470 mhz Factory OC EVGA Nvidia GT7800
Arctic Freezer 64
Idle Temps @ 34 C in a 75 F room (Im not doing the math lol)

[mentalcrisis00]

When i change the core affinities for my windows programs and games they'll stay at what i set them untill i restart. The i alt/ctrl/del and all my programs run on both cores again which causes some applications to crash.

Is there anyway to save the affinities so applications will stay locked to one core?

I have my AMD drivers and hot fix loaded

-Ray

[kenofstephen]

is that really necessary??

coz I don't feel there is any problem at all......:confused:

[GFDuke]

Does this pertain to the FX 60?

[Pandamonia]

I am just about fed up with the constant hang's of my games such as COD2 and Dnd Online. seems the higher end the game the more often it does it. i get a screen freeze followed by the sound looping and then it rights itself after 10-15 secs. ive tried setting affinity and the hotfix and all the updated drivers. i have no idea whats causing this or how to fix it. i got a RMA on my GTX card but i cant see it bein faulty cus it works fine most the time. also this only happens in the 3.0 tests on 3dmark06.

any advise?

[mentalcrisis00]

Mine does the same EXACT thing pandamonia, sept mine usually won't recover, it'll just crap out completely and the other night i got a primary data dump blue screen.

Stats:

Amd x2 4400
2GB corsaid XMS
1 seagate SATA 2 300GB drive
EVGA 7800GT
EPOX nforce 4 ultra board
550 Antec Truepower 2

[Pandamonia]

i dont know why this is happening but it sure aint good, not sure if RMA my GTX will do anything! i am unsure what to do!

[mentalcrisis00]

I'm guessing my PSU is the problem, alot of people have been having trouble with the antecs lately when used on dual cores. Mine makes a buzzing sound even if everything is shut down so i imagine a capacitor is blown out in there. I'm getting an enermax tomorrow and hopefully that'll fix the problem. I'll check back in, seeming you're using an OCZ i wouldn't even care to guess what the trouble is. If the system boots, it shouldn't be a bad CPU, RAM, or video card. When the cpu goes bad it usually overheats madly and shuts system down, bad ram usually won't allow the system to boot at all, and a bad VGA would give you alot of artifacting and crazy colors in the post.

I'd say it's either a software problem or your motherboard acting fruity. Try reformating the drive without adding the nforce storage drivers, and i'd suggest loading the nforce drivers from the nvidia website not the mobo manufacturer.

Good luck to ya.

[Indyxc]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to post this reference.

I intially just installed the AMD x2 drivers, and Nvidia Newest Dual core support Drivers. Didn't install the windows hotfix since the link was down.

I found that games were running a bit slow, but since it's my first dual I didn't know what to think. It seemed slower than my Opteron 148 at about the same speed. I thought maybe it was just me.

Well tonight I installed the Hotfix, did the regedit, and games are much. Watching my task manager while playing (dual monitor) both CPU are utilized 80% of the time +. Frame rates are smooth, if not smoother than with my Opteron 148 in Battlefield 2.

Excellent fix. Thank you Gar.

[ValkyrieLenneth]

So sad there isnt any x64 patch yet :(

[Indyxc]

So sad there isnt any x64 patch yet :(

When I ran my dual core in X64 I didn't notice any problems like x32. I suspect the dual core support is much better, since it was native to server 2003 (the basis for x64).

[Rodzilla]

GAR!!!!!! You rock man! :up:

This made my system run SOOOO much better!
(ASUS A8R32-MVP running a FX-60)
Games are smooth!!! MP3 files don't skip, DiVX ripping is faster and more reliable, And you wouldn't believe how much smoother the 3Dmark benches look!

----> And even better yet!!!!!
I too have a dual monitor setup and was running the task manager and my Temp prog on the 2nd monitor... With them up while i was playing CS:S I noticed something amazing!!!

Before the patch I was running at 100% CPU usage on both cores all the time! Which gave me a high CPU temp...

After I ran the patch CS:S would run at 50% on both cores :eek: and I dropped my temp by 5*C!!!!! :clap: :up:

This thing runs soooo much better now!

[FlyBoyGeo]

Just got my Opty 170. Thanks for putting this together!!!

[GAR]

you guys are welcome!!

[ValkyrieLenneth]

When I ran my dual core in X64 I didn't notice any problems like x32. I suspect the dual core support is much better, since it was native to server 2003 (the basis for x64).
I guess so also :toast:

[jonicadalton]

I just installed the hotfix and rebooted fine. When I read the Microsoft article it states 'disable the new performance state...' when discussing the registry change.

The word new implies that updating the registry will disable the hotfix, but after reading this thread it seems like the registry changes are required.

Had I not been on this forum and just read the article by itself I'd assume the registry changes are not required.
:confused:

[Rodzilla]

I just installed the hotfix and rebooted fine. When I read the Microsoft article it states 'disable the new performance state...' when discussing the registry change.

The word new implies that updating the registry will disable the hotfix, but after reading this thread it seems like the registry changes are required.

Had I not been on this forum and just read the article by itself I'd assume the registry changes are not required.
:confused:
As a general rule setting a reg entry to 1 enables something... My games look choppy without having this key inputted.

[mentalcrisis00]

figured out what my problem was, bad ram.

14 passes over 9 hours and i had 690,000 errors in memtest

[aud0z]

anyone know where I can get the hotfix for my Win XP Norwegian language?
Thanks for the great how-to-do it. Looking forward to try it out if I ever find the hotfix.

[GAR]

anyone know where I can get the hotfix for my Win XP Norwegian language?
Thanks for the great how-to-do it. Looking forward to try it out if I ever find the hotfix.

you might have a problem bro, there is no fix for your lang. but i would recommend you contact MS, see if they have something for your language, good luck.

[masterofpuppets]

Had to install the hotfix on my last installation. Was doing it in CS:S with 1600x1200/full aa/full af/everything at max, yet video stress test was reporting a good average fps. It was just dropping to 3 fps every couple of seconds consistantly. I thought it was just my X1900 not being upto the job, so I dropped everything to minimum and it would still do it just as bad. Tried the drivers + hotfix and now everything is fine. Never needed this on my last installation, must be one of those things.

[aud0z]

finally.. got the hotfix for my language, followed the steps and rebooted.
And now it's all goooood!
Thanks alot for the great post GAR =)

[Gorfiuz]

I have problem to install the hotfix :( When i try to install the hot fix, btw I think i have the latest drivers to amd = 1.2.2.0? when I Install it and restart, after the windows loading screen it become blue screen for 1sec so i couldent se what it stod and it restart again. is there something i could do reinstall the windows? I Would appreciate some help if it can be fixed. I play bf2 and It gets very laggy and disconnect me from the server.

[kenofstephen]

one more time and no offense.

is that really necessary??

[Rodzilla]

one more time and no offense.

is that really necessary??
If you have a dual core and a win 32 OS... yes unless you don't mind the poor performance... some people can't tell the diff cause they just don't know any better.